80. #sartago#: literally 'a frying-pan,' 'hubble-bubble' (Conington),
'gallimaufry,' 'galimatias,' 'olio' (Gifford), 'olla podrida.'
81. #dedecus#: The language is disgraced and degraded by this mixture of
old and new. Persius would not have enjoyed Tennyson's resuscitations.
See Introd., xxiv. --#in quo#: 'at which.'
82. #trossulus#: an old name of the Roman knights, of disputed origin.
It was afterward used in derision. Jahn compares the German _Junker_.
--#exsultat#: +anapêda+, 'jumps up in delight.' --#per subsellia#: Jahn
understands the 'benches' or 'forms' in court; others, perhaps more
correctly, the seats in the lecture-hall. There is a climax. First,
private teaching; next, public lectures; thirdly, practical life, to
which we come in the following verse. --#levis#: the position is
emphatic, 'the smug, womanish creature.' _Levis_ is _levigatus_. Ancient
literature is full of allusions to this effeminate +paratilsis+.
83. #nilne#: stronger than _nonne_, 'not a blush of shame.' --#capiti#:
rarer Ablative in _i_. Neue gives examples (_Formenlehre_, 1, 242). The
simple Abl. is found with _pellere_, even in prose, and the Dative,
which some prefer, would be forced. --#cano#: See note on v. 9.
84. #quin optes#: G., 551; A., 65, 1, _b._ --#tepidum#: 'lukewarm,'
_decenter_ being faint praise. 'In good taste' (Conington). Gr.
+prepontôs+.
85. #'Fur es'#: The accuser puts his point plainly enough; in three
letters, as the Romans would say. --#ait#: Comp. v. 40. --#Pedio#: Jahn
thinks it likely that this Pedius is not Horace's man (Sat., 1, 10, 28),
but one Pedius Blaesus, condemned under Nero, Tac., Ann., 14, 18; Hist.,
1, 77. Persius knew more about Horace than about the _causes célèbres_
of his own day. --#rasis antithetis#: commonly rendered 'polished
antitheses.' With _radere_ comp. the Gr. +diesmileumenai phrontides+,
Alexis, fr. 215 (3, 483 Mein.). But the figure may possibly be taken
from the careful removal of overweight in either scale of the balance.
The antitheses are scraped down to an exact equipoise.
86. #doctas figuras#: _Doctus_, Scaliger's correction, which requires,
moreover, a period at _figuras_, is unnecessary. _Doctas figuras_, like
_artes doctae_, _dicta docta_, _doli docti_. _Figurae_, +schêmata+,
embraces 'tropes.' --#posuisse# = _quod posuerit_. G., 533; A., 70, 5,
_b._
87. #an#: 'what?' 'can it be that?' --#Romule#: bitter, like _Titi_,
_Romulidae_, _trossulus_. Comp. Catull., 29, 5. 9. --#ceves#: 'Wag the
tail' keeps within bounds of possible translation.
88. #men moveat?# So _#men moveat# cimex Pantilius_, Hor., Sat., 1, 10,
78. The sentiment is that of the well-worn _si vis me flere, dolendum
est | primum ipsi tibi_, Hor., A. P., 102. _Moveat_ sc. _Pedius_.
--#quippe#: is often ironical, 'good sooth.' --#protulerim#: The Perf.
Subj. in a sentence involving total negation.
89. #cantas#? 'you sing, do you?' --#fracta te in trabe pictum#:
Shipwrecked men appealed to charity by carrying about pictures of the
disaster which had overtaken them. Comp. 6, 32. _Si #fractis# enatat
exspes | navibus, aere dato qui pingitur_, Hor., A. P., 20, and Juv.,
14, 302. _Trabe_ is the wrecked vessel as it appears in the picture,
although it is possible that the painting may have been put on a broken
plank of the ship, in order to heighten the pathos. So Jahn.
90. #ex umero#: We say 'on the shoulder,' from a different point of
view. G., 388, R. 2. --#nocte paratum#: 'got up overnight.'
91. #plorabit#: an imperative future. --#volet#: Observe the greater
exactness of the Latin expression. G., 624; A., 27, 2. --#incurvasse#:
See v. 42, and add Liv., 28, 41, 5; 30, 14, 6; 40, 10, 5, and the _S. C.
de Bacanalibus_ (passim).
92-106. 'But,' rejoins the impersonal personage, whom Persius always has
at hand, 'we have made great advances in art. Contrast this verse and
that verse with the roughness of the Aeneid!'-- 'The Aeneid rough? Well,
what is smooth? [_He gives a specimen of fashionable poetry._] If we had
an inch of our sires' backbone, such drivel would be impossible. And as
for art-- it is as easy as spitting.'
I have followed the distribution as presented in Hermann. Jahn gives vv.
96, 97 to Persius, 98-102 to the interlocutor, the rest to Persius. It
is impossible to discuss all the arrangements that have been suggested
for this passage.
92. #decor#: Gr. +charis+. --#iunctura#: is used as in v. 64, of
'smoothness,' 'harmonious sequence,' the even surface without a break.
See Quint., 9, 4, 33. All the specimen verses that follow avoid
mechanically the offences against _iunctura_ that Quintilian enumerates,
and do not avail themselves of the license which he accords to a _grata
neglegentia_. There is no elision, no synaloepha, in any of them. As
these fashionable verses have been held up to derision by the satirist,
commentators have been busy in hunting out defects, and translators have
vied with each other in absurd renderings. But Jahn has wisely warned us
against an over-curious search into the supposed faults of these verses,
which Vossius pronounced superior to any thing in the compositions of
the critic himself. It is enough for us to know that to the ear of
Persius the lines lacked masculine vigor. The multiplication of
diaereses, the length of the words, the careful avoidance of elision,
the dainty half-rhyme of _bombis_ and _corymbis_, the jingle of
_ablatura_ and _flexura_, may be cited as confirmations of the view of
Persius, but, with the exception of the desperate verse 95, the diction
is in keeping with the theme. If _adsonat Echo_ is not ridiculous in
Ovid (Met., 3, 505), it is not ridiculous here; and one surely needs to
be told that _reparabilis_ is not a happy adjective for Echo, who is
always 'paying back' and making good.
93. #cludere versum#: like _concludere versum_ (Hor., Sat., 1, 4, 40),
is 'round a verse' (Conington), rather than 'close a line.' --#didicit#:
What is the subject? 'Our man,' 'our poet,' the lover of _decor et
iunctura_? So most commentators. Heinr. makes _Attis_ the subject. The
personification of _iunctura_ would not be too harsh for Persius.
--#Berecyntius Attis#: It suffices to refer to Catull., 63. Berecyntus,
a mountain in Phrygia.
94. #Nerea#: god of the sea, the water. In modern Gr. +neron+ is
'water.' The use, which Conington calls 'grotesque,' is almost as
'grotesque' as _Vulcanus_ for 'fire.' The scholiast thinks of Arion's
dolphin. Bacchus's dolphin is as likely.
95. #sic costam longo subduximus Appennino#: With the close of the
verse, comp. Ov., 2, 226: _Aeriaeque Alpes et nubifer Appenninus_; and
Haupt's note. 'We filched a rib from the long Apennine.' The
interpretations are all unsatisfactory. The scholiast sees in the
removal of the rib from the mountain a metaphor for the removal of a
syllable from the hexameter. The only point worthy of notice in this
remark is the emphasis laid on the spondaic verse. The _Graece nugari
soliti_ doubtless used spondaic verses more freely than the model Latin
poets (comp. Catull., 64). Some understand the words to refer to a
forced march (_putavi tam pauca milia #subripi# posse_, Sen., Ep.,
53, 1); others to the device attributed to Hannibal in crossing the Alps
(_montem rumpit aceto_, Juv., 10, 153). It is all idle guess-work,
without a context; but, guess for guess, the expression would suit a
'Titanomachia,' and the rib might answer for a weapon, as once a
jaw-bone did. The jingle of the verse is like Verg., Aen., 3, 549:
_cornua #velatarum# obvertimus #antennarum#_, quoted by the scholiast.
96. #Arma virum!# 'Compare with these elegant verses _Arma virum_; what
a rough affair!' Not only were the opening words of a poem used to
indicate the poem itself-- +Mênin aeide+ the Iliad, +Andra moi ennepe+
the Odyssey, _Arma virum_ the Aeneid-- but the first verses were
considered peculiarly significant. So the metrical structure of the
first verse of the Iliad is very different from that of the first verse
of the Odyssey. _Arma virum_, etc., with its short words and its
frequent caesurae, was harsh to the ear of the interlocutor, and is
compared with the rough, cracked bark of the cork-tree. --#spumosum et
cortice pingui#: 'frothy and fluffy' (Conington). As usual, Persius
works out his comparison into minute details.
97. #vegrandi subere#: So Jahn, instead of _praegrandi subere_. Do not
translate 'huge, overgrown bark' (Conington), but 'dwarfed, stunted
cork-tree.' See Ribbeck (_Beiträge zur Lehre von den lateinischen
Partikeln_, S. 9), who has discussed _ve_ and this verse at some length.
Both Conington and Pretor admire the metaphysics of Jahn, who has
'explained, after Festus and Nonius, _vegrandis_ as _male grandis_, so
as to include the two senses attributed to it by Gell., 5, 12; 16, 5, of
_too small_ and _too large_.' But _ve-_ means separation (Vanicek,
_Etym. Wb._, S. 166); _ve-cor-s_, 'out of one's mind;' _ve-sanu-s_, 'out
of one's sound senses;' _ve-grandi-s_, 'shrunken,' 'dwarfed,'
'undergrown' (if the word is admissible). For the growth of the
cork-tree, R. refers to Plin., N. H., 16, 8, 13: _suberi #minima
arbor#-- cortex tantum in fructu, praecrassus ac renascens atque etiam
in denos pedes undique explanatus_. Some of the best commentators give
these two verses (96 and 97) to Persius, and consider _Arma virum_ as an
invocation of the shades of Vergil, 'as Horace, A. P., 141, contrasts
the opening of the Odyssey with _Fortunam Priami cantabo_.' _Hoc_ is
supposed to refer to the specimen verses. Ribbeck also (l.c.) regards
the swollen, light bark of the low cork-tree as the image of the _genus
tumidum et leve_, as opposed to the _grande et grave_. --#coctum#:
'thoroughly dried.'
98. #Quidnam igitur#: _Igitur_ is not unfrequently used in questions, as
our 'then.' So _quidnam igitur censes?_ Juv., 4, 130. But, unless the
question is a rejoinder, it is not very appropriate. 'If the Aeneid is
rough, give us something really soft,' would be a fit reply to _Arma
virum_, etc., in the mouth of the objector. Conington, who gives 96-98
to Persius, connects thus: 'If these are your specimens of finished
versification, give us something peculiarly languishing.' --#laxa
cervice#: the attitude of the _mobile guttur_, v. 18.
99. #Torva mimalloneis#: Persius can not wait for a specimen, and gives
one himself. This is much more dramatic than the arrangement, which
makes the respondent cite the verses. The verses are attributed to Nero
by the scholiast, and in fact Nero is said to have composed a poem on
the Bacchae, Dio., 61, 20. The theme is so common that no conclusion is
to be drawn from that statement. Mr. Pretor, who understands by
_iunctura_ 'a resetting of old verses,' regards 99-102 as a weak
_réchauffé_ of Catull., 64, 257 seqq., and compares Tac., Ann., 14, 16.
--#Torva#: 'grim.' So _#torvum#que repente | clamat_, Verg., Aen., 7,
399 (of Bacchanalian madness). --#mimalloneis#: from Mimas, on the coast
opposite Chios. With the whole verse comp. _multis raucisonos efflabant
cornua bombos_, Catull., 64, 264, and Lucr., 4, 544.
100. #vitulo superbo#: variously caricatured as 'the haughty, the
scornful calf.' No such effect could have been produced by the original.
Comp. +tauroi hubristai+, Eur., Bacch., 743 (Jahn); +gaurotera moschô+,
Theocr., 11, 21; _equae superbiunt_, Plin., 10, 63. The Bacchanal
rending of animals is familiar. --#ablatura#: On this free use of the
future participle, see G., 672; A., 72, 4.
101. #Bassaris#: a Bacchante. Jahn cites a Greek epigram (Anth. Pal., 6,
74), which shows how close a resemblance may be due simply to community
of theme. --#lyncem#: 'The lynx was sacred to Bacchus as the conqueror
of India.'
102. #euhion#: Gr. +euion+, Accus. of +euios+ (commonly but falsely
spelled _Evius_), _Euhius_, Bacchus. --#reparabilis#: Actively, as
Horace's _dissociabilis_, Od., 1, 3, 22; 'renewing,' 'restoring,'
'reawakening.' So Ov., Met., 1, 11, of the moon: _#reparat# nova
cornua_. --#adsonat#: 'chimes in.'
103. #testiculi vena ulla paterni#: '_Honestius expressit_, Ov., Her.,
16, 291: _si sint vires in semine avorum_.' 'If we had one spark of our
fathers' manhood alive in us' (Conington).
104. #delumbe#: 'backboneless,' 'marrowless.' Comp. +ischiorrôgikos+
--#saliva#: Spittle is 'foolish rheum' as well as tears.
105. #in udo est Maenas et Attis#: 'Your Maenas and your Attis-- it
drivels away.'
106. #nec pluteum caedit#, etc.: _Pluteus_, which is commonly rendered
'desk,' is, 'according to the scholiast, the back-board of the
_lecticula lucubratoria_,' or studying-sofa, such as Augustus indulged
in, Suet., Aug., 78; comp. v. 53. 'The man lies on his couch after his
meal, listlessly drivelling out his verses, without any physical
exertion or even motion of impatience' (Conington). Persius underrates
the artistic finish, as he has overdrawn the moral conclusion.
--#demorsos#: 'bitten down to the quick.' _Et in versu faciendo | saepe
caput scaberet vivos et roderet ungues_, Hor., Sat., 1, 10, 70.
107-121. M. But what is the use of offending people? We must not tell
the truth at all times. You will have a cool reception at certain great
houses. Nay, the dog will be set on you. --P. Well! I make no struggle.
Every thing is lovely. No nuisance, you say. All right. Boys, let us go
somewhere else. But there was Lucilius-- he wielded the lash, he gnawed
the bones of his victims. There was Horace-- he probed his friend's
heart and punched him in the ribs, and had the town dangling from the
gibbet of his tip-tilted nose. And I am not to say-- Bo! Not all to
myself? Not with a ditch for my confidant? Nowhere? Nowhere, you say?
But I will. I have found a place-- a ditch. It is my book. Here, book,
is my great secret: 'All the world's an ass.' What a relief!
107. #quid#: What case? --#radere#: 'rasp.' --#mordaci vero#: _Verum_ is
so completely a substantive that there is no difficulty about _mordaci
vero_ (comp. G., 428, R. 2). Much bolder is _generoso honesto_, 2, 74;
_opimum pingue_, 3, 32.
108. #vid[)e]#: like _cav[)e]_, and other iambic Imperatives. G.,
704, 2; A., 78, 2, _d_. --#sis# = _si vis_, to soften the Imperative,
'pray do.' --#maiorum tibi forte#: Hor., Sat., 2, 1, 60: _O puer ut sis
| vitalis metuo et maiorum ne quis amicus | #frigore# te feriat._
_Maiores_ = 'grandees.'
109. #limina frigescant#: like the modern slang, 'leave one out in the
cold.' _Limen_ is used in many Latin turns where 'threshold' would be
too stately in English. Mrs. Gamp would render: 'the great man's cold
doorsteps will settle on your lungs.' --#canina littera#: 'R is for the
dog,' Shaksp., Romeo and Jul.; 'A dog snarling R,' Ben Jonson. See
Dictionaries, s.v. _hirrire_. Gr. +ararizein+. An allusion to the
familiar _cave canem_. 'The snarl is that of the great man' (Scholiast).
Conington compares _ira cadat naso_, 5, 91. The obvious interpretation
is the right one. 'There is a sound of snarling in the air,' refers
simply to the great man's dog, which will be set on the unwelcome
satirist.
110. #per me#: 'for all I care,' +emou g' heneka+, a familiar use of the
preposition _per: #per me# habeat licet_, Plaut., Mercat., 5, 4, 29.
--#equidem#: Not for _ego quidem_, although this opinion affected the
practice of Cicero, Horace, Vergil, Quintilian, the younger Pliny.
Sallust, like Varro, combines _equidem_ with every person. So Ribbeck
(l.c. S. 36), who derives _equidem_ from _e_ interj. and _quidem_.
Conington tries to save the rule here by making the expression
equivalent to _equidem concedo_. Another exception is found 5, 45, where
C. goes through the same legerdemain: _non #equidem# dubites_, 'I would
not have you doubt.' --#alba#: 'lovely,' 'whitewash them as much as you
please.'
111. #nil moror#, etc.: The whole line, indeed the whole passage, is
strongly conversational in its tone. _Nil moror_, 'I don't wish to be in
your way, to spoil sport.' Comp. Ter., Eun., 3, 2, 7, and Gesner, s.v.
_moror_. --#bene#: Comp. Cic., Fam., 7, 22: _bene potus._ See also note
on 4, 22. --#mirae res#: 'wonders of the world' (Conington), 'miracles
of perfection.'
112. #hoc iuvat?# 'I hope that is satisfactory.' --#veto quisquam faxit
oletum#: 'commit no nuisance.' Observe the legal tone. _Quisquam_, on
account of the negative idea. The negative _ne_ is omitted after _veto_
as often after _caveo_. G. 548, R. 2; A., 57, 7, _a_. _Faxit_,
a disputed form. G., 191, 5; A., 30, 6, _e_.
113. #pinge duos anguis#: 'a sign of dedication rather than of
prohibition' (Pretor). The dedication involves the prohibition. This is
one of the innumerable phases of serpent-worship. For the serpent, as
the symbol of the _genius loci_, which is Greek as well as Latin, see
Verg., Aen., 5, 95, and the commentators. The reading _pinguedo sanguis_
of some of the best MSS. may be mentioned, _animi causa_.
114. #secuit#: 'cut to the bone.' --#Lucilius#: The _loci classici_ are
Hor., Sat., 1, 4, 6; 1, 10, 1; 2, 1, 62; Juv., 1, 19, 165. The
_testimonia de Lucilio_ have been collected and annotated by L. Müller,
Lucil., p. 170 seqq.; p. 288 seqq.
115. #Lupe, Muci#: L. Cornelius Lentulus Lupus Cons. A.U.C. 598, and P.
Mucius Scaevola Cons. A.U.C. 621, Juv., 1, 154. --#genuinum#: 'Breaking
the back-tooth' shows the eagerness with which the satirist gnawed the
bones of his victims. Comp. Petron., 58: _venies sub #dentem#_, 'you
will be "chawed" up.'
116. A deservedly admired characteristic of Horace. --#vafer#: a hard
word to catch. _Vafer_ crowns the formidable list of synonyms in the
well-known passage of Cic., Off., 3, 13, 57: _versuti, obscuri, astuti,
fallacis, malitiosi, callidi, veteratoris, #vafri#_, 'a shuffler,
a hoodwinker, a trickster, a cheat, a designing rascal, a cunning fox,
a blackleg, _a sly dog_.' The indirectness of _vafer_ may sometimes be
rendered by 'politic,' 'adroit.' 'Rogue' is a tolerable equivalent.
--#amico#: is much happier than _amici_ would be; it makes the friend a
party to the game. _Horatius qui ridendo verum dicit_ (Sat., 1, 1, 24)
_tam leniter vitia tangit, ut ipse, quem tangit, amicus rideat et
poetam, qui dum ludere videtur intima aggreditur, lubens admittat et
excipiat_ (Jahn, after Teuffel). --#admissus#: 'gets himself let in,'
'gains his entrance' (Conington, after Gifford).